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Published: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 4:39 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 8:13 p.m.

DELAND -- A judge has issued a nationwide arrest warrant for a DeLand man who a bondsman fears has fled to Mexico after receiving bail on a DUI manslaughter charge despite a warning he was a flight risk.

William David Lopez, 27, was granted $35,000 bail and then fled within 24 hours after his release from jail on Feb. 8, according to an emergency motion seeking the nationwide arrest warrant.

Circuit Judge Randell Rowe III issued the warrant on Thursday after a hearing Wednesday afternoon that included some sharp criticism of the State Attorney's Office by a defense attorney.

But Rowe said there was no reason at this point to revoke the $35,000 bail because there was no proof Lopez had indeed fled.

Lopez has an arraignment scheduled for March 13 on charges of DUI manslaughter, careless driving without a license causing death or serious bodily injury, and driving without a license.

The second page of the charging affidavit against Lopez warns in all capitals: “LOPEZ IS NOT A US CITIZEN AND IS A POTENTIAL FLIGHT RISK.”

Damore, who is representing the bondsman, said Lopez is an undocumented immigrant and may have fled to his native Mexico. The bondsman has said that Lopez has a wife or girlfriend in DeLand and has children.

Lopez was arrested after the deadly crash about 5 a.m. Feb. 6. on U.S. 17 near Spring Garden Avenue, not far from DeLeon Springs, according to reports.

Lopez's vehicle crashed with a Hyundai driven by Connie Rae Rodriguez, 61, who was from North Carolina and had family in Port Orange. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach.

Damore, a former prosecutor, asked Rowe to issue the arrest warrant. Damore is representing Dale “DJ” Brown of 2nd 2None Bail Bonds who posted the $35,000 bond. Damore said Brown has no idea where Lopez is. When Brown went to fit him with a GPS monitor after his release Feb. 8, he was told by Lopez's wife or girlfriend that he was gone.

“The bondsman is hoping that Mr. Lopez will show up in court OK,” Damore told the judge. “He has 35,000 good reasons to want that. But I, as an officer of the court, want it for another reason. I want the lady who was killed, if in fact Mr. Lopez was legally responsible for her death due to a criminal act. ... to have that family have their day in court.”

Damore also said 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza's office should have done something to start the process of an arrest warrant for Lopez once he and Brown made prosecutors aware Lopez might have fled.

But Assistant State Attorney Amy Walker said during the hearing that prosecutors had not received any affidavit from Brown.

“For the court's information the state has never received any sort of affidavit from Mr. Brown either directly from him or through Mr. Damore stating what his efforts were to locate and find Mr. Lopez,” Walker said.

But if the court decides there is sufficient evidence based on what Damore said shows Lopez has violated his bail then prosecutors would not object to the arrest warrant, she said.

“But we haven't been presented with any information in the form of sworn testimony,” Walker said.

“If you stick your head in the sand long enough you never see anything,” Damore responded. “And I don't want to get into a war with the state over this. It's their case. I'm stepping back.”

The court and prosecutors are aware and if the prosecutor's office doesn't feel it's appropriate to contact Brown or have their own investigator look into it, that's their decision, he said.

“A DUI manslaughter case was not that significant, then that's up to the state attorney. I'm not Mr. Larizza. I'm not one of his assistants. They have to run their office as they see fit. I'm notifying the court that this man may be a flight risk, that he cannot be located.”

In an email, Larizza's spokeswoman Klare Ly declined to say when the bondsman or attorney called about Lopez.

“I don't think it would be appropriate to discuss details of this case as it is a pending and active case,” Ly wrote in an email. “The bondsman only called us to tell us the defendant was not at home, which is not a violation or crime. If the defendant is in violation of an agreement he has with the bondsman, then it is between the two of them. We have no legal action until the court declares that the defendant failed to report to court.”

<p>DELAND -- A judge has issued a nationwide arrest warrant for a DeLand man who a bondsman fears has fled to Mexico after receiving bail on a DUI manslaughter charge despite a warning he was a flight risk. </p><p> William David Lopez, 27, was granted $35,000 bail and then fled within 24 hours after his release from jail on Feb. 8, according to an emergency motion seeking the nationwide arrest warrant. </p><p> Circuit Judge Randell Rowe III issued the warrant on Thursday after a hearing Wednesday afternoon that included some sharp criticism of the State Attorney's Office by a defense attorney. </p><p> But Rowe said there was no reason at this point to revoke the $35,000 bail because there was no proof Lopez had indeed fled. </p><p> Lopez has an arraignment scheduled for March 13 on charges of DUI manslaughter, careless driving without a license causing death or serious bodily injury, and driving without a license. </p><p> The second page of the charging affidavit against Lopez warns in all capitals: “LOPEZ IS NOT A US CITIZEN AND IS A POTENTIAL FLIGHT RISK.” </p><p>County Judge Dawn Fields granted bail to Lopez. Defense Attorney David Damore questioned why Lopez was granted bail at all. </p><p>Damore, who is representing the bondsman, said Lopez is an undocumented immigrant and may have fled to his native Mexico. The bondsman has said that Lopez has a wife or girlfriend in DeLand and has children.</p><p> Lopez was arrested after the deadly crash about 5 a.m. Feb. 6. on U.S. 17 near Spring Garden Avenue, not far from DeLeon Springs, according to reports. </p><p> Lopez's vehicle crashed with a Hyundai driven by Connie Rae Rodriguez, 61, who was from North Carolina and had family in Port Orange. Rodriguez was pronounced dead at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. </p><p> Damore, a former prosecutor, asked Rowe to issue the arrest warrant. Damore is representing Dale “DJ” Brown of 2nd 2None Bail Bonds who posted the $35,000 bond. Damore said Brown has no idea where Lopez is. When Brown went to fit him with a GPS monitor after his release Feb. 8, he was told by Lopez's wife or girlfriend that he was gone. </p><p> “The bondsman is hoping that Mr. Lopez will show up in court OK,” Damore told the judge. “He has 35,000 good reasons to want that. But I, as an officer of the court, want it for another reason. I want the lady who was killed, if in fact Mr. Lopez was legally responsible for her death due to a criminal act. ... to have that family have their day in court.” </p><p> Damore also said 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza's office should have done something to start the process of an arrest warrant for Lopez once he and Brown made prosecutors aware Lopez might have fled. </p><p> But Assistant State Attorney Amy Walker said during the hearing that prosecutors had not received any affidavit from Brown. </p><p> “For the court's information the state has never received any sort of affidavit from Mr. Brown either directly from him or through Mr. Damore stating what his efforts were to locate and find Mr. Lopez,” Walker said. </p><p> But if the court decides there is sufficient evidence based on what Damore said shows Lopez has violated his bail then prosecutors would not object to the arrest warrant, she said. </p><p> “But we haven't been presented with any information in the form of sworn testimony,” Walker said. </p><p> “If you stick your head in the sand long enough you never see anything,” Damore responded. “And I don't want to get into a war with the state over this. It's their case. I'm stepping back.” </p><p> The court and prosecutors are aware and if the prosecutor's office doesn't feel it's appropriate to contact Brown or have their own investigator look into it, that's their decision, he said. </p><p> “A DUI manslaughter case was not that significant, then that's up to the state attorney. I'm not Mr. Larizza. I'm not one of his assistants. They have to run their office as they see fit. I'm notifying the court that this man may be a flight risk, that he cannot be located.” </p><p> In an email, Larizza's spokeswoman Klare Ly declined to say when the bondsman or attorney called about Lopez. </p><p> “I don't think it would be appropriate to discuss details of this case as it is a pending and active case,” Ly wrote in an email. “The bondsman only called us to tell us the defendant was not at home, which is not a violation or crime. If the defendant is in violation of an agreement he has with the bondsman, then it is between the two of them. We have no legal action until the court declares that the defendant failed to report to court.”</p>